It is, however, impossible to carve out a kind of symbolic safe zone for the Confederate battle flag as the flag of the soldier because it did not remain exclusively the flag of the soldier. Anyone today hoping to understand why so many Americans consider the flag an object of veneration must understand its status as a memorial to the Confederate soldier. They assume emotional significance for soldiers’ families and their descendants. (That problem was what compelled Confederate commanders to design and employ the vast array of other battle flags used among Confederate forces throughout the war.)Battle flags become totems for the men who serve under them, for their esprit de corps, for their sacrifices. The Stars and Bars, which the Confederate Congress had adopted in March 1861 because it resembled the once-beloved Stars and Stripes, proved impractical and even dangerous on the battlefield because of that resemblance. The commanders of the Confederate army in Virginia (then known at the Army of the Potomac) sought a distinctive emblem as an alternative to the Confederacy’s first national flag-the Stars and Bars-to serve as a battle flag. The flag as we know it was born not as a symbol, but as a very practical banner. If you weren’t aware of this before, the unprecedented flurry of events and of public reaction to them that occurred in June 2015 have raised obvious questions that all students of Civil War history must confront: Why do people have such different and often conflicting perceptions of what the Confederate flag means, and how did those different meanings evolve? And, at some point in your life, you became aware that not everyone shared your perception of the Confederate flag. If you didn’t, your interest in the war likely brought you into contact with people who have a strong emotional connection with the flag. You may have grown up with more than just an idle knowledge of the flag’s association with the Confederacy and its armies, but also with a reverence for the flag because of its association with Confederate ancestors. Many Confederate units served under battle flags that looked nothing like the red flag with the star-studded blue cross. If you studied the war in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters, you learned that “Confederate battle flag” is a misnomer.
At some point, you learned that the Confederate battle flag was not, in fact, “the Confederate flag” and was not known as the “Stars and Bars.” That name properly belongs to the first national flag of the Confederacy. More than likely, your knowledge of the flag has expanded and become more sophisticated over the years.
The symbolism of the flag is simple and straightforward: It represents the Confederate side in the war that you enjoy studying. If you are a regular reader of Civil War Times, the Confederate battle flag is a familiar part of your world.
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